Once again, Say What? returns with tasty soundbites as we bring you the fallout from the latest Gameweek. Gus Poyet discusses his decision to bench Adam Johnson, Roberto Martinez explains his rotation policy, Jose Mourinho questions the desire of some of his squad, whilst Chris Hughton and Mark Hughes talk tactics:
After frustrating Fantasy managers by keeping Adam Johnson on the bench for the visit of West Ham, Sunderland manager Gus Poyet was honest enough to admit that he may have made a mistake. The winger had made an instant impact in the previous game at Anfield and again rose from the bench to lift the Black Cats with his side two goals down. Johnson’s goalscoring performance will surely put him in contention for a start against Tottenham ahead of Sunderland’s double Gameweek, granting him a stay of grace despite the Fantasy frustrations of the last few weeks. With another double in Gameweek 37 to come, Johnson will surely be back on our radars if he can continue his form and return to the Wearsiders’ starting XI:
“If I made a mistake in selecting the team, if you want to put it on me, then fine, put it on me. I will analyse myself too. But the only question I think it is fair to ask of myself is should I have started with Johnno? He came on and scored a great goal, so I have to ask myself should I have started with him? But I also have to point out that we couldn’t have played the whole 90 minutes at the tempo in which we played the last 20 when we were pushing for it and he was so heavily involved.”
Gus Poyet shoulders the responsibility of a defeat against relegation rivals West Ham.
Roberto Martinez discussed the reasoning behind his decision to rotate his attacking midfielders with regularity. The Toffees boss has utilised his maximum quota of three substitutions in 12 of the last 13 matches and his weekend tinkering at Fulham reaped reward, after all three of his second-half switches picked up the Fantasy returns and helped turn a goalless draw into a 3-1 victory:
“The way we always try to win the game from the first minute to the last is very demanding. When you play like that you need to use 14 players. Our squad is very flexible and we have different options to use to break teams down and unlock defences. That’s why the squad is so important to me. The impact of substitutions is as important as the starting line-up. On Sunday we needed something very specific and Steven’s (Naismith) understanding of it and execution was brilliant. That mentality has to extend to everyone; other clever players like Kevin Mirallas, Aiden McGeady and Leon Osman at certain times. They can all bring something specific and give clever options.”
Roberto Martinez explains his attacking midfield rotation policy .
With only one win, two defeats and no clean sheets from their last four away games – all of which have been against highly favourable opposition – Jose Mourinho called on his attackers to raise their game ahead of the final six Gameweeks. Mourinho has made no secret of his admiration for a settled back five, but it seems that places further up the field are once again subject to rotation. Fantasy managers may look to capitalise on Chelsea’s great run of fixtures, with a trip to Swansea falling between home fixtures against Stoke and Sunderland, though perhaps the safest investments remain in defence following Mourinho’s comments. Eden Hazard, of course, is the exception to the rule.
“My four defenders, phenomenal performance, as always. The others I’d prefer not to analyse individually. Clearly we have some players because of their profile who find it difficult to perform in some kinds of matches. You have Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Gary Cahill and César Azpilicueta who perform in the sun, in the rain, on small pitches, on big pitches, against aggressive teams, against non-aggressive teams, against possession teams, against non-possession teams, and they perform every game from day one to the last day. And you have other players who are fantastic in some matches and disappear in others. You can find easily in these matches something in common. You can find it clearly.”
Jose Mourinho recognising a pattern to his title challengers’ recent stuttering performances.
Speaking after Newcastle’s 4-0 hammering at Saint Mary’s, Alan Pardew – who subbed Hatem Ben Arfa and Yanga M’Biwa off at half time – expressed his displeasure with the form of his current playing squad. The result against Southampton means the Magpies have now blanked in seven of their last ten games, while conceding seven without reply in their last two, as they prepare to host Manchester United next week. Handed his first start since Gameweek 25 last Saturday, Ben Arfa’s withdrawal suggests his days on Tyneside are numbered after a dire display:
“I am not really going to talk about individual players. We have to collectively accept we weren’t good enough. The changes were tactical, We had a problem down that side. Davide Santon (who replaced Yanga-Mbiwa) is someone who would normally deputise for Mathieu Debuchy if he was fit. Mathieu wasn’t available again and that was a problem for us. At least Davide got 45 minutes under his belt.”
Newcastle manager, Alan Pardew on a troublesome left flank.
Norwich City were brought back down to earth with a resounding thud following their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Swansea and manager Chris Hughton took a moment to reflect on his attacking strategy after another poor result on the road. The Canaries have been somewhat generous visitors of late, conceding at least two goals in every away game since the 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace on January 1 and have seen their defence breached 11 times in the last three.
“I wanted to come here with a positive team that had two up front who gave us on outlet. In Ricky (van Wolfswinkel) and Johan (Elmander) we have runners, and I wanted to have Wes (Hoolahan) in a narrower role because he’s one that can get the ball and create things…We find it very difficult away from home just to get that right formula. In a game when you’re up against a team that’s as good a passing team as Swansea are, you can’t give them the amount of ball we gave them… If we’re not good enough on the ball we’ve got to make sure we’re not conceding goals and at the moment, away from home, we’re not doing either.”
Chris Hughton on persisting with two up front, despite Norwich’s disappointing away form.
With a win at Sunderland all but guaranteeing West Ham’s Premier League safety, Sam Allardyce tipped star performer Andy Carroll for a seat aboard Roy Hodgson’s plane to Rio. Carroll returned 12 Fantasy points at the Stadium of Light courtesy of a goal, an assist and maximum bonus, bringing him back onto the Fantasy radar once more. With a summer in Brazil serving as motivation and sharpness steadily improving, the England hopeful certainly has his appeal, but challenging fixtures against Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City, as well as a visit from miserly Crystal Palace will ensure differential status remains for the 0.7%-owned target man.
“If Andy Carroll stays fit from now to the end of the season hopefully he can go to the World Cup, he’s scoring goals and winning games for us. He’s not match fit at the moment, he isn’t as sharp as he could be so hopefully we’ll see more from him in the next few weeks.”
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce on Andy Carroll’s World Cup aspirations.
Following their fourth win from five games, Stoke manager Mark Hughes explained his decision to start the match against Hull with Stephen Ireland playing in behind Peter Crouch. The move left Charlie Adam benched on his comeback from suspension, as Hughes fielded the mercurial Irishman to support his in-form attacking trio; Crouch, Marko Arnautovic and Peter Odemwingie – the latter again in the points with a match winning strike and maximum bonus taking his personal tally to 28 FPL points in his last three appearances.
“It was a tough call, and it was maybe harsh on Wilson because I thought he was exceptional against Villa. I had a decision to make though, and because we were the home team I wanted to be a little more positive and try to dictate the tempo of the game. We wanted to get players in and around their holding players so I opted to bring Stephen back into the eleven. It didn’t work as we were hoping during the first 45 minutes but following the break we were more better and our attacking players were able to influence the game in the way that we had hoped they would”
Mark Hughes talks tactics after a third win on the trot.
